November 19, 2004

How do I help change the world?

How often have we said it: "I can't change the world, but I may be able to change one life." So we think about child sponsorship.

After seeing the Christmas Bowl at work I think that statement is untrue.

Up in the hills of Bangladesh I saw how the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB), an ecumenical development agency, didn't start or stop with sponsoring one person, but set out to help a whole township, as well as individuals.

In that one village, I saw a holistic program that provided no less than:

• two pre schools,
  
• nutrition program for school children,
  
• helping the poorest children go to school,
  
• a land reclaiming program,
  
• community education and forum program,
  
• midwifery education,
  
• health, sanitation and nutrition education,
  
• a vaccination regime,
• farmer's education on livestock and seeds,
  
• cultural reinforcement,
  
• delivery of fresh and safe water,
  
• women's empowerment groups and,
  
• a series of rolling low interest loans for entrepreneurial business development.

That's all in just one package for one village.

This is not about picking individual winners, but how together a whole township is given hope and a chance to break the poverty cycle.

When that hope is spread over a whole population it generates further hope and confidence in each person.

When I go to the footy, I don't barrack for one person, but the whole team.

And when we win, we all share in the glory. It's the same with helping overseas: when we help a whole town, everyone shares in the benefits, everyone gets a chance to be better off and everyone has a hope for a decent future.

I know when I give to the Christmas Bowl the money goes to a whole community, delivering a range of services. It has breadth as well as depth.
I also know that these projects are supported, in most cases, for many years. It is not creating dependence but an acknowledgment that overcoming decades of injustice and long term poverty simply takes time.

The current trend in some places is to deliver certain projects then move on.

That might help donors who want to do something different, but the "hit and run" approach does not help in the long term.

How would it be if the Christmas Bowl stopped supporting Sri Lankan refugees in India a few years after they fled their worn torn county? Instead, the Australian churches through the Christmas Bowl has been with them from day one, starting 20 years ago this year.

Now, the refugees are looking to go home, finally, to their own country - equipped, educated and ready to rebuild a nation.

Perhaps we have to change the old dictum to: "I can't change the world, but I can make a world of change for everyone in a whole village."' And that's no small change, but worth giving to, generously.

Please give generously to the 2004 Christmas Bowl. Get your Christmas Bowl kits, posters, corflute signs and other resources by emailing or phoning christmasbowl@ncca.org.au/freecall 1800 025 101

Kim Cain/Christian World Service

THE CHRISTMAS BOWL - 2004
A program of Christian World Service/The National Council of Churches in Australia